For those who've arrived on this page who have no boat, know nothing about boats and the sea, and wouldn't know a cardinal mark or a port hand buoy if it came and bit them... All we can say is YOU HAVE TO START SOMEWERE.

(OR you might just be a dog walker looking for local tide tables.. they're here )

"If you have a yen to get out there on the sea, all we can say is stick with it, learn all you can and then go and try it. Seafaring is a fantastic and healthy pastime, there's so much to learn, and so much fun to be had. Adventures to be had and friendships to be forged...

In the kind of sanitised politically correct lives we' re forced to lead now, getting out to sea is the one great adventure left to us... It is a place where actions have consequences, and responsibility can't be avoided"

For interested beginners WE SAY read on, browse the site, pick up what you can and take it in. For some entertainment you could start HEREfor some amusing videos.

For those of you with boats ...

So much depends on the type and style of seagoing:

For those who own a boat and sail/motor in fair weather around a certain fixed limited area, say a range of 1 daysail (50 miles max), and have no time or aspirations to go further... Nothing VisitMyHarbour make, do, or sell would be of much use at all, other than our free online monthly tide tables. These people will have their local charts, hopefully kept up to date, and will already know their waters back to front. They will have their GPS sets to mark up their positions.

For those who venture further afield afloat, or have aspirations to, some of what we do will be of use. First they can check out our free harbour coverage and get some idea of places they might visit. They could buy cheap Imrays small scale charts covering a wide area to get the overview and navigate on as they move around the coasts.

Likewise those with trailer boats, Kayaks, Canoes, dinghies who trail to new destinations...

If they are members, they can use the online full screen charts to investigate possible anchoring/mooring/launching/daysailing places in far more detail than a small scale chart can provide.

"I have been very taken with the online charts of UK waters available from a website called VisitMyharbour. It gives access to JPG versions of all current UK and Irish waters' charts for £25. I have been building up a set of chartlets for the English Raid in July... ... I am really quite impressed" Julian Swindell...

Basically members use small scale cheap charts for the passage, then use the online charts available to them for the close up detail. This will get them into harbours, marinas, anchorages. Remember though: the only paper charts "For Navigation" are official full size updated editions....everything else is "Not For Navigation".

We are not allowed to promote the printing of our online charts, but "fair use" provisions absolutely allow you to make prints/copies for your own personal study. See legal notice.

Members are able to always have up-to-date charts for research (unlike a pilot book which will go out of date). The could even use their iPad/Android tablet to view these charts close to shore with a mobile connection. Full life members also get decent discounts on our "physical" products

The other common 3 uses for members charts are:

1. Using online charts to update their own paper charts, buoyage changes, wind farms etc, can all be seen on the latest charts, and used to manually update users paper charts...which may be past their prime !

2. Using members only charts loaded into Google Earth, plan a passage, get waypoints (use placemark tool), and measure distances (use line tool). If you know what you're doing around Google Earth you can download waypoints direct from your Garmin or Magellan GPS and lay them on the members streaming VisiCharts.

3. Again using our charts draped over Google Earth satellite images with variable transparency, members can get an astoundingly accurate idea of what they are likely to encounter on their cruise.

Join for for a one-off fee of £25 and fully research potential passages and stopping places from our massive collection of online charts. Membership does not expire. Investigate and plan using our online streaming Google Earth compatible charts too. Find out more

NOW... for those that really move around a bit, at night and in bad weather... they may want a bit more. They may want to know exactly where they are at all times on a decent chart. They may want to create a route and follow it. Thay may want to see a track of where they have just been

That's what our "Charts for SeaClear" package is for. It is licensed "FOR NAVIGATION" and has tide tables built into it.

If you can power a laptop or netbook on your boat (doesn't need to be on 24/7, just when really needed), you can use this product with a GPS connected to it. If you have a NASA AIS, or our own AIS connected (with VHF aerial) you will also have all AIS shipping displayed on your charts too, with CPA calculations for collision avoidance.

This got a cracking review in Sailing Today Feb issue, p43/44. It's about half the price of anything else available, and it's simple and reliable.

For making you way up strange estuaries and rivers in the dark, a system like this is unbeatable.

To use the one you have at sea, you would need to connect a GPS to it (we sell these too). For getting used to, planning a few routes etc, you can just use it as it is.